Orange County Philharmonic Society

1954 May 22: Frieda Belinfante conducts the Vine Street Musicians--soon to become known as the Orange County Philharmonic--at Santa Ana High School. The program consists of Rossini's "Barber of Seville" Overture, Mozart's Symphony No. 38, Mendelssohn's Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. About 500 attend. Aug. 22: Belinfante conducts the orchestra at the Irvine Bowl in Laguna Beach.

Will China dominate the cultural world in the 21st century? That's the prediction of Dean Corey, executive director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society, which is presenting Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. "The Olympics in China really woke us all up," Corey said. "The Chinese are a long way from being imitators; they are creators. This festival will make people aware of what will be happening in the future.

The Orange County Philharmonic Society has won its first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, although society Executive Director Erich A. Vollmer said Thursday that the organization's board will meet this weekend to decide whether to accept the $3,500 award. Some arts organizations have recently rejected or threatened to reject NEA grants, objecting to congressional attempts to regulate artistic content.

The world premiere of Tan Dun's concerto from the film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"--with the composer conducting--and the United States premiere of filmmaker Hal Hartley's "Soon," commissioned by the Salzburg Festival, will highlight the 2001-2002 season presented by the Philharmonic Society at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

July 19, 1993 | KENNETH HERMAN, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES; Times Staff Writer Chris Pasles contributed to this report

Most of his colleagues seem to have nothing but praise for Dean Corey, named last week to succeed Erich Vollmer as executive director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society. Currently director of development for the San Diego Symphony, Corey is to start his new job next month. "Dean is a team worker," said Les Smith, the San Diego Symphony's former public relations director, who worked with Corey for three years. "He was full of clever ideas.

They said it wasn't happening, but it happened anyway. In the past decade and a half, despite all those who denied it, chamber music in North America has been resuscitated, revived and resurrected from a moribund state. Funds still must be raised, tastes elevated and general appreciation increased, but a steady rise in the activity and visibility of touring as well as site-resident ensembles and the growth of series goes on. There may be hope.

Party Scene Two softly lit banquet rooms in the Center Club--the VIP hangout a few steps from the front doors of the Performing Arts Center--were filled with Orange County Philharmonic Society members and their friends Friday night following the season-opening concert hosted by OCPS. A harpist plucked easy-listening tunes. Servers brought flutes of champagne and Chardonnay. Bite-size buffet offerings included cheeses, fresh fruit and miniature French pastries.

In the movies, a composer gets a flash of insight and scribbles out a symphony. Or maybe he has a dream, wakes up and pens a concerto. Sometimes, all it takes is one glimpse of a loved one and a song arises in the heart and quickly finds its way onto paper. Things don't usually work like that in the real world.

Eve R. Henderson has been appointed to the new position of director of development for the Orange County Philharmonic Society, officials announced Thursday. Henderson has worked for the society since 1985, most recently as general manager. Her new duties will include designing and implementing short and long-term financial development programs, according to executive director Erich A. Vollmer.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County hopes eventually to scale performing arts Everest with its Eclectic Orange Festival. For now, with the returns just in from the festival's inaugural run of diverse, sometimes genre-melding performances at five county venues, officials say they have established a satisfactory base camp.

What if Leonard Bernstein had stood before the New York Philharmonic, baton poised, and jumped into a performance with a jubilant cry of "One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go!"? Now that would have been eclectic. On Saturday, Orange County's leading importer of classical music will let the rock 'n' roll cats have a go.

The curtain goes up Saturday on the first Eclectic Orange Festival, but whatever happens, it won't be the last. The Philharmonic Society of Orange County is already deep in plans for the next two years, and beyond. "We are thoroughly committed," says Dean Corey, executive director of the society, which has presented performing arts groups in Orange County since the 1950s. "We are getting next year pretty complete, and the real lollapalooza should be 2001."

For most of its 45-year history, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County has been a concert presenter, bringing many of the world's great orchestras here. Now, on the cusp of the millennium, the society is adding something new: producing programs from scratch. The new direction should benefit Orange County audiences in highly imaginative ways. "When you present programs, you're looking for things to do," executive director Dean Corey said in a recent phone interview.

Spurred by heavy ticket sales for performances of Beethoven's nine symphonies, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the country's leading presenter of touring orchestras, ended its fiscal year with an operating surplus of $306,208, officials announced. Income in unaudited figures was reported at just less than $4.7 million, of which $1.4 million came from ticket sales.

Concerts by the San Francisco Symphony led by Michael Tilson Thomas, and the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, and a return recital engagement by Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel will be among the highlights of the 1999-2000 season sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. Tilson Thomas will conduct the San Francisco Symphony on March 5 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Because pianist Andre Watts is suffering from "severe flu," his management has canceled his recitals tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Wednesday at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. Spokesmen for the Orange County Philharmonic Society and the Ambassador say they hope to reschedule the performances. Information: (714) 642-8232.

The Seattle Symphony, to have played the Orange County Performing Arts Center Oct. 12, has canceled its 1989 tour of Southern California. The Orange County Philharmonic Society, which was sponsoring the program, instead will bring the Canadian Brass to the Center on Nov. 29, though that concert will be part of a separate subscription series. Information: (714) 642-8232.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County's fall festival series, "Eclectic Orange 1999," will offer an enhanced revival of Leonard Bernstein's last Harvard University lecture and an appearance by the New Zealand Symphony, with performances by Maori tribal members. "We think we can do more creative work in the festival format than in just presenting concerts over the year, although we will continue to do that," the society's executive director, Dean Corey, said Monday.

The Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the leading presenter of touring orchestras in the county, ended its fiscal year with an operating surplus of $30,303, officials have announced. Income in unaudited figures was reported at $3,167,945. More than $1 million of that came from ticket sales. Total expenses were $3,137,642. That brings the organization's accumulated surplus to about $2.8 million.